Eight game-changing technologies of the future

Ahead of Digital Journeys I asked the digital marketing expert speaker panel to share their technologies of the future that will change industry, the way we behave and even lives.

Digital Journeys presentations are being streamed live via Periscope via our handle @JellyfishAgency on Thursday 16th July, alternatively catch up with the videoed presentations on the blog post-event.

Here are some of the ‘technologies-to-watch’ from Google, Microsoft, publishers and major brands:

1. Internet giants dominate

Joel Windels who is the EMEA Marketing Manager at Brandwatch mused:

“I think that as this second dotcom era matures, and the reach of Google, Facebook and Amazon outpace traditional industries, we'll continue to see the influence of these online giants permeate our lives to ever greater degrees.”

We are all experiencing the ways these companies ceaselessly broaden their offerings; Amazon Video and Google Shopping for example.

“Big companies like Google and Amazon have been investing to provide free, fast or low-cost internet services to communities, which raises big questions about control of information – think Internet.org or Project Loon.”

“When coupled with concerns around the NSA and net neutrality, I'll be watching this tech space very closely and I expect some significant, potentially controversial changes in how we access the internet over the next few years. It could be brilliant, it could be disastrous; but it's certainly one to watch.”

2. Micro-robotics

Joel is not the only one who views some technological advancements with trepidation.

Jellyfish’s Creative Campaign Director, Max Vinall said:

“Micro robotics has always fascinated me and right now it’s permeating medicine, energy, defence and engineering to an incredible degree.”

“We are already seeing a thousand of these tiny things swarm together and self-assemble through IR light signalling. They are being injected into our bodies to fight tumours. Even turned into ‘flies’ with video capability that can that can spy on the enemy unobserved. This is the area to watch, with an equal measure of amazement and fear…”

Robots can build robots in space because they don’t require gravity, robotic bees to takeover pollination when bees become extinct and my personal favourite, mini robots that clean your house!

Watch 10 incredible micro-robots:

3. The Internet of Things

Gawain Owen, Nestlé’s Digital Lead touched upon a simple technology that’s transformed his behaviour and given him greater control, Hive.

“I’m currently loving Hive which allows me to control hot water and heating from my phone” Gawain said highlighting a simple enhancement to the customer experience that’s just a result of greater connectivity.

“It’d also be useful to have something that tracks the wife when she is two minutes away too” he quipped. Joking aside, there are already apps that provide tracking of a ‘significant other’ or family members using the GPS of their phone.

Microsoft, however, have been developing HoloLens, their hologram offering that ‘combines breakthrough hardware, input, and machine learning so you can bring mixed reality experiences to life using the real world as your canvas.’

The idea is it can bring another layer to life, it can add a whole new dimension to the way we currently experience work and play.

Watch their video that illustrates how this could work:

5. Google driverless cars

Jellyfish CEO, Rob Pierre shared his one-to-watch as driverless cars – designed to free people from the burden of driving. Is the future conference calls in the privacy of the backseat of your vehicle whilst commuting into the office?

The Google blog shares their plans for them to hit the streets this summer:

6. Always-on, always-live streaming

Darragh Daunt, Head of Platform Sales, Independent Agencies at Google DoubleClick shared the nature of technology becoming an ongoing, live fixture as a significant evolution.

In particular, live video streaming sites like Periscope and Meerkat.

“Streaming an activity or event and get feedback in real-time delivers endless possibilities for content producers. If copyright infringement risks can be overcome, this area has a lot of runway.”

7. Virtual reality

Ryan Watson the News Editor at shots picks Virtual Reality technology (VR) as a result of it being “experimented with in exciting ways over the past few years thanks to Oculus”